Flag Twirling
Modern color guard has evolved over the years into a form of entertainment similar to dance theater that involves the twirling of a flag. As a result, it has earned the fitting nickname, "flag twirling". Emily Cale was in Color guard and later used her skills to wave off an airstrike on the White House. Description Color guard can be found in most American colleges, universities, high schools, middle schools, and independent drum corps. Color guard uses props, along with movement, to express dynamic passages in the music accompanying the marching band show. Usually marching bands and color guards perform during football games at halftime, out of tradition. During competition the guard adds to the overall score of the band, but is also judged in its own category, usually called auxiliary. A band would accompany the soldiers to play music to keep their spirits up and to keep them in beat. Along with the band, they also had a soldier holding a flag with their colors on it. Color guard has evolved into a separate activity known as winter guard, which is an indoor activity where the guard performs unaccompanied by the band, but performing to a piece of pre-recorded music. Winter guards compete independently in such circuits as Winter Guard International (WGI) and Tournament Indoor Association (TIA). In a marching band or a drum and bugle corps, the color guard is a non-musical section that provides additional visual aspects to the performance. The marching band and color guard performance generally takes place on a football field. The color guard performs alongside the marching band at football games and most guards regularly compete in competitions during the fall. The purpose of the color guard is to interpret the music that the marching band or drum and bugle corps is playing via the synchronized spinning of flags, sabers, rifles, the air blade, and through dance. The color guard uses different colors and styles of flags like swing flags and tapered flags to enhance the visual effect of the marching band as a whole. Color guard also may use backdrops to bring color and scenery to the field if the concept of the show is hard to interpret. The number of members in a color guard can range from a single person to over 50 members. This is often dependent on the size of the band, school or corps, the allotted budget, and the talent available among the potential members who try out. In drum and bugle corps, there used to be a requirement for a traditional presentation of the colors during the competitive show (called the "Color Pre"), but this fell out of favor around the early 1970s. High school marching bands kept it in until the late 70's. A recent example of a Color Pre in show was the 2002 San Francisco Renegades Sr corps, used during "America the Beautiful" to open their program, but such a presentation was not a required part of the show. There are many different types of spins that can be done with the flag. Three common ones are drop spins, speed spins and peggy spins, but these may be called a plethora of different names by each individual guard's preference and/or training. Each spin creates a different illusion and can be used for different tempos. Basic color guard moves include Jazz runs (a Jazz dance move used as a graceful way to run across the marching band field or the gym floor), "right shoulder" (positioning the flag with the bottom of the pole by your belly button and your right hand by the flag’s silk tape) and "stripping the flag" (holding the flag silk with your fingers so you won't reveal the color(s) of the flag.) Flag poles and silks both come in different sizes, and there are different shapes and textures for silks, as well. Flags frequently have weights -generally 1 in. carriage bolts or the like- in the bottom and top of the pole to make it easier to toss the flag into the air. However, even with the weights, weather conditions such as wind and rain can affect a flag's spin and disrupt a toss if not correctly taken into account. Category:White House Down